The following is from BART:
There’s been a big decline in the number of riders who say they’ve witnessed fare evasion on BART. For our latest Quarterly Performance Report, we asked riders, “did they see anyone enter or exit the station without paying their fare today?” Only 17% of those questioned said they had, which is a drop of nearly 1/3 from the same period just a year ago when 25% of respondents said they had witnessed fare evasion.
In the last 12 months, BART has installed Next Generation Fare Gates at more than 20 stations across the system. More stations are getting new gates every month. In just the last few days installation work began at Concord, El Cerrito Plaza, Glen Park, and San Leandro stations.
“The decline in fare evasion sightings is the latest indication that Next Generation Fare Gates are transforming the rider experience,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “We know it’s not possible to stop 100% of fare evasion, but we are seeing that these state-of-the-art, durable gates are proving themselves to be more resistant to fare evaders and are deterring unwanted activity on BART.”
As more stations receive new gates, BART’s crime rate has dropped. Overall crime on BART was down 17% last year even as BART served 2.6 million more trips than it did in 2023.
As fewer riders are seeing fare evasion, participation in the Clipper START discount program is skyrocketing. Clipper START trips on BART for the latest quarter more than doubled to 363,238 from only 150,282 a year ago. That’s a 141% increase. Clipper START provides a 50% discount on Bay Area transit to eligible riders who have an annual household income of 200% of the federal poverty level or less.
BART has heavily promoted enrollment in Clipper START throughout the process of installing new fare gates. BART is on track to have Next Generation Fare Gates at all 50 stations by the end of this year.
If the system is secured to allow only riders that have paid a fare it will improve dramatically, IMO. I’d say 90% of the riders that pee, puke and sleep on it all day did not pay a fare.
It’s nice to read people are seeing less fare evasion, but the gates should’ve been built from Day 1 where no one can sneak in. While the rest of us pay the problem riders are probably sneaking in. The emergency entrance is used as a way to avoid paying not emergencies.
I’ve said it before…. I’ll believe it when I don’t see it.